Reality
by Tomigiru
Summary: "Don't you get it, Doctor? We were young. We were stupid. It was never real." The Doctor and the Master have skeletons in their closets, and relationships best left unmentioned. What happens when the Master digs up these old pains?  One-shot,Doctor/Master


"Doctor. Nice to see you again." The blonde man's smirk was positively animalistic. He was crouched close to the ground, his fingertips nearly brushing the rocky ground.  
>"I'm sad to say I can't say the same," The brunette answered brusquely, his eyes bright with caution and tinges of fear.<br>"Oh, come on, Doctor. Say my name."  
>"No. Honestly, you're becoming much too predictable."<br>"Predictable? Ha!" The man jumped up, pouncing to his feet. The sudden motion reminded the Doctor or a panther, or perhaps the quick snapping of a praying mantis' limbs. "You can't say you predicted this, Doctor. You thought I was dead. You thought I was gone. Forever." The man walked down from the hill he was standing on, smaller pebbles and rocks skidding down under his feet. "You cried, didn't you? Tell me, Doctor, did you sob when I was gone?"  
>"Oh, shut up." The Doctor rolled his eyes, but was mindful to keep watching the psychopath that was sauntering towards him.<br>"I'll take that as a yes. Tell me, Doctor, why do you still pretend that we can be saved? That we can be happy?"  
>"I'm not pretending, and you very well know that. We were happy once. Why don't you want that to happen again?"<p>

"Ha!" The Master's quick, abrasive laugh made the Doctor flinch. The blonde was close enough to reach out and touch the Doctor, now. "You've been pretending since we were little. Happy? Please. We were never happy."  
>"You just don't want to accept it. For some unfathomable reason, you think love equals weakness. When did that start? Didn't you used to love me?" The Doctor's warm brown eyes looked up to meet the Master's green, and the blonde man seemed to hesitate slightly. For a moment, it seemed that the Doctor's words had reached him, but then it passed. The Master's hand lashed out, grabbing onto the Doctor's, channeling anger and hate. The Doctor yanked back as if burned.<p>

"Don't you get it, Doctor? We were young. We were _stupid_. It was never _real_." Hurt flashed through the Doctor's eyes, but the Master refused to show how that affected him.

"You're a liar. You're just denying me because you're afraid of letting yourself be happy. I remember why you came after me in the first place, Master." The blonde's expression became somewhat distant when his name was finally used. Then his expression went back to vicious and angry.

"Do you? Oh, what am I saying? But of _course_ you know. You're the _Doctor_. The great healer. Trotting around helping people. You love me so much, Doctor, why haven't you helped me?"

"I've tried to—"  
>"Bullshit! You don't know why I was trying to kill you. You've probably erased it from your feeble mind. You probably think that you were a perfect boyfriend, <em>Theta<em>. You probably thought that evil, weak little Koschei broke up with _you_."

"Wha—"  
>"You left me! You deserted me! Did you think I would <em>forget<em>? And then I come back, try again, and, oh, what a _surprise_, you have a goddamn _family_!"  
>"I didn't desert you, Master, I…"<br>"You left me. You left me and built a life, trying to forget me."  
>"No. Please, I loved you, I still might. I never wanted to desert you, I just—"<p>

"You _what_? Save the excuses, Doctor. You never loved me. It was all in our heads. You just can't come to terms with that."

"_Go? What do you mean, 'go'?" The black haired boy blinked at his friend, blue eyes wide. The blonde blushed, averting his eyes._

"_Well, I'm going…Well, I don't know yet, but I'm going places."  
>"Don't you mean 'we', Theta?" The blonde boy paused and looked up at his taller friend.<em>

"_That's just it, Kos. I don't think you should come."  
>"What? Why not?" The outburst made Theta flinch, and his brown eyes were becoming watery. "What about our promise, Theta? I thought we were going to be together forever. That's what <em>you_ said." Seeing Koschei so torn apart was an uncomfortable sight. Theta was usually the over-emotional one.  
>"It's just—Look, we'll see each other again, I promise."<br>"No! It wasn't supposed to work like that! Why would you desert me like this?"_

"_I'm not deserting you, Koschei. I would never, ever desert you. I'm just going to—Look, I have to go. I promise I'll see you again. And I'll never stop loving you." With those words, the blonde turned away and ran off, leaving the Koschei devastated._

"_I hate you!" Theta was out of sight, but he was still near enough to hear those final words from his friend._

The Master's fist connected with the Doctor's face, knocking the man down. "I hate you," the blonde stated, holding the brunette down.

"No you don't. You'd have killed me by now."

"Shut up." A hand connected with the brunette's face again.

"Please, Master. You know that if there's one thing I'm good at, it's talking. You're not too bad yourself. So let's talk."

"No! I'm not going to let you go on one of your delusional rants! We're never going to be happy."  
>"Because you won't let us be."<br>"Shut up!" This hit was harder, and the Doctor tasted blood. "I don't want to hear your shit, Doctor. I know you're absolutely full of it, but please refrain, and just let me kill you."  
>"You won't."<p>

"Watch me." The Master jumped off of him, grabbing the collar of his suit and pulling him up before slamming him into a wall of rock. The Doctor gasped and coughed, the wind knocked out of him. The Master really did have a murderous look in his eyes. The Doctor didn't like it one bit. This new Master was an animal, almost, and, despite what he had said, would probably kill him like a wild animal would. He needed to find a way out. He needed to talk.  
>"You won't. You won't kill me, you never will, because no matter what, you love me. You can say the opposite all you like. It just proves it." Fist to the face. Again. The Doctor was going to have a sizeable bruise on his cheek when this was over.<p>

"You're still stuck in your pathetic little childhood mindset. Seeing the good in people, or simply making it up if it's not to be found. For the millionth time, Doctor, we were children, playing pretend." The Doctor snapped. His hands shot up to The Master's face, and he used his body weight to shove the blonde back. He shoved into the other Time Lord's brain forcibly, streaming out far too many memories at once.

"_I love you."  
>"I love you too." The boys smiled as their foreheads touched. Both were wearing goofy smiles, happy beyond words.<em>

"Tell me, Master."

_Their lips connected, in what soon became a very heated kiss. They clawed and grabbed at each other, as if they needed this, needed each other. It was entirely possible that they did._

"Tell me," the Doctor implored, his face a hardened expression of anger,

"_Koschei, do you really love me?" The blonde asked nervously, glancing at the boy that he was cuddled against._

"_Of course I do, Theta. I'll follow you to the ends of the universe."_

"Tell me, How it wasn't real! Tell me that it was all a game!"

_They moaned as their mouths melded together, hands searching, skin slick with sweat, the air tense with anxiety. This was entirely new for both of them._

"_I love you," Koschei muttered as they united for the first time._

"No!" The Master pulled away, panicked, panting as if he had just ran five kilometers. He stared at the Doctor, green eyes wide with fear and embarrassment, as if he had been caught naked. In a way, he had. "Stop it…" The Doctor realized what he had done. His eyes met the Master's, their brown depths nearly as fearful.

"I…I…Koschei, I'm sorry, I'm just…"  
>"Go."<br>"What?"  
>"Go!"<p>

Shame-faced, the Doctor quickly scampered off to his TARDIS. He got into the ship as quickly as possible, sliding down the doors and sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.

"What have I done." The statement—for it was a statement, not a question—was full of guilt and self-loathing. The Doctor stood and walked to the TARDIS console solemnly. He didn't know where he was going to go, and he didn't much care. It didn't matter. He'd see the Master again. They had promised.

"_Promise me." The blonde said, nudging his friend.  
>"I <em>promise_ that I'll always be here with you. Until the universe ends. Okay, Theta?" The taller boy ruffled his friends fair blonde hair._

"_Haha, okay, okay. Thanks, Koschei."  
>"Promise me back, Theta."<br>"Huh? Oh! Of course. I promise. End of the universe. Always." The boy smiled warmly, melting his friends heart.  
>"I love you." They snuggled close together, and for once, Koschei was the first to go to sleep, and had no nightmares.<em>

**A/N: This fic was really fun to write. I got the idea out of nowhere while chatting with a friend and ended up with this.  
>I hope I did the Doctor and the Master justice, really. It's a bit difficult to get those two right, heheheh...<strong>

**Hope you guys enjoyed! R&R please!**


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